This invention relates to artist's painting surfaces and in particular to neutral pH acidity and structurally stable surfaces that are not hydrophilic and tend to be hydroscopic in nature, maintaining their dimensional stability regardless of humidity levels that they are exposed to over time. The invention further relates to methods of creating structurally rigid painting surface wherein a rigid planar member having the paintable surface thereon is combined with a rigid frame or structure in order to minimize flexure of the paintable surface, in order to maintain the integrity and life of the paint applied to the surface.
It has been well documented that in the art materials field, practices that were used commonly throughout the 1600's, are still being used today. This is evident especially within the painting supports used by the artist's of today, most of which are still being manufactured from traditional, cellulose-based materials. Cellulose-based wood frames and canvas painting surfaces are sponge like in nature and can swell and contract substantially with varying atmospheric humidity. Notwithstanding the inherent weaknesses of these materials, few attempts have been made within the art field to embrace the modern, technological alternatives that have been proven to be more permanent, stable and reliable, after decades of use.
The ideal artist's support should have qualities that won't shrink or swell excessively with the atmospheric moisture content, such as traditional canvas and paper supports are prone to doing. This type of “breathing” may be harmful to paintings on cotton and linen. The ideal support also should not stretch or warp, a common problem within the conventional cellulose-based materials that leads to cracking of the layers of paint within the paintings themselves. The support should also be able to withstand mechanical impacts, so that dropping the support, or having things dropped on it, should result in only minimal damage to the painting. Finally, the support should provide sufficient physical and chemical bonding with the paint medium to ensure lasting adhesion.
A number of modern alternative materials and their potential use as painting surfaces were discussed in the technical article “Answers” by Rhett Lucas in the June 1995, Volume 12 Number 6 edition of “The Artist's Magazine” (ISSN 0741-3351). Lucas discusses the use of Aluminum Sheet, Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) Sheet, and modern Textiles made of synthetic fabrics such as Nylon, Orlon, and others. He suggests that ABS sheet is “millennially permanent” due to the fact that it does not expand or contract much with variations in humidity and temperature. Lucas also indicates that “ABS is modestly flexible, but can't warp, always returning to flat after flexing”. In practical application flexing of a painting surface induces stress in the dried paint on the surface.
Opus Framing and Art Supplies of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada produces a cradled panel, which is a painting support made of a piece of wood that has had other narrower pieces of wood glued flush to the back edge. This process creates extra support or a “cradle” for the painting surface that adds extra depth and dimension. The wood surface may be painted onto directly or have a canvas or other medium stretched over it, as published in the Opus Visual Arts Newsletter Issue No. 195, Jan. 2-Jan. 31, 2005. The problem with a wooden surface is that it is hydrophilic and will absorb and release moisture depending on the atmospheric humidity that it is exposed to, which in turn will affect the dimensional stability of the surface, particularly at the molecular level where the paint bond with the surface is stressed and strained due to humidity induced change.
In the prior art applicants are aware of the following patents regarding utilizing plastics for painting surfaces:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,881 titled “Matboard/Backing Board and Methods of Manufacture and Use”, issued to Zucker on Aug. 6, 2002, describes mat boards and backing boards that are buffered to a pH greater than 7.0 and having as an outer layer a vapor barrier and protective material such as PET, PBT, co-PBT, co-PET and mixtures thereof, as well as methods for making and using such boards, claiming a board comprising a layer of matboard and/or backing board buffered to a pH greater than 7.0 and an outer layer that is a protective layer and or vapor barrier. Essentially Zucker teaches various methods of laminating materials to achieve a pH neutral surface using plastics for the outer layer. This does not address maintaining a flexural stability for the paintable surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,168,438 titled “Method of Creating Vivid Paintings Using Clear Canvas”, issued to Leonard et al. on Jan. 2, 2001, teaches a method of creating vivid paintings using a clear or translucent canvas, which includes placing the canvas on top of an image to be reproduced and tracing outline and highlight colors from the image onto the front side of the canvas, the actual colours are then applies to the back side of the canvas with a clear coating applied to the front.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,386 titled “Inkable Sheet”, issued to Butters et al. on Aug. 15, 1989, describes an inkable sheet comprising a base sheet of plastic such as PET film with a surface layer of ink-absorbent resin made of vinyl pyrrolidone polymer and a acrylic or methacrylic polymer. This does not address maintaining a flexural stability for the paintable surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,596 titled “Artist's Board” issued to Groody on Dec. 27, 1977, describes a laminated artist's board comprised of a rear substantially rigid backer, a front paintable member in the form of a plastic coated paper, cotton duck or linen sheet, and an intermediate flexibly resilient member wherein the range of hardness of the combined front and intermediate members is such that pressure applied on the paintable member with a brush will produce a dent of limited depth that will recover substantially instantaneously so that the artist can retain his techniques and habits of painting on a canvas. The board comprises of a front member of fibrous material consisting of paper, cotton duck or linen, said fibrous material having a plastic paintable surface thereon consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylic, vinyl or epoxy resins and an intermediate flexibly resilient member consisting of rubber, vulcanizates of acrylic elastomers or foamed plastic. This does not address maintaining a flexural stability for the paintable surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,923,483 Method of Making an Artist's Mat issued to Glenn on Aug. 22, 1933, teaches a method which consists of laying a paste of mineral earth on the upper face of a flat backing sheet of paper board, drying the paste thereafter, jogging the backing sheet to condense the paste, removing the upper portion of the dried paste to form a substantially flat face and leave a relatively thin layer of dense material on the backing sheet, etching the face of the backing sheet to form a matrix, and forming a stereotype in the type metal directly from the matrix. Again this does not address either the hydrophilic problem of the materials used, or the problem of maintaining a flexural stability for the paintable surface.